Headlines - 11.10.2013 NATO: It is not time to reduce our presence in Kosovo (Koha Ditore) The paper reports that local elections in Kosovo are at the focus of NATO and considering the situation on the ground and expectations from agreements between Kosovo and Serbia, NATO officials said they are in no rush to insist on downsizing the number of troops serving with KFOR. In fact, the mission will be joined by a partner that has so far not taken part in any peacekeeping operation, Moldavia. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Moldavia will take part for the first time in a peacekeeping mission of the Alliance and its troops will be deployed to Kosovo. He said NATO will continue to keep its presence in Kosovo for a while. “Currently, we will maintain the present level of our troops in Kosovo. We have hailed political agreement between Pristina and Belgrade and we are following how local elections set for 3 November are going,” said Rasmussen for the Croatian daily, Jutarnji List. Institutions use EU for propaganda (Koha Ditore) European integrations experts claim that the findings of this year’s progress report for Kosovo are serious challenges that continue to remain unaddressed because of the lack of political will. Analysts say most of Kosovo leadership use the EU as a propaganda tool but when it comes down to implementing European values and criteria, they abuse institutions by interfering in public administration, courts and prosecutions. “Critical problem for Kosovo continues to be the issue of public administration reform and this in fact reflects on other issues such as fight against organized crime and corruption and a number of other criteria that are exclusively technocratic,” said European integrations expert Avni Mazreku. Another expert on the field, Shenoll Muharremi, said challenges identified in the report keep reappearing from year to year and remain unaddressed. “This shows that in Kosovo most of the officials leading the institutions use Europe and the EU as a political propaganda discourse,” he said adding that there is a huge conflict between what needs to be done to get closer to the EU and what is actually happening in Kosovo. UNMIK chief, optimistic about 3 November elections (dailies) UNMIK chief Farid Zarif said during a visit to the north of Kosovo that there is room for optimism regarding elections in Kosovo. He added it is imperative to respect principles of tolerance and democracy. “There is ample room for optimism as long as principles of tolerance, mutual respect, and non-violence are upheld during the electoral campaign”, said Zarif. He also emphasised the need for all stakeholders to respect the opinions of others and to foster a spirit of democracy in which decisions will be made freely by each individual. “No act of intimidation or coercion will be condoned or tolerated, and any anti-democratic acts will be condemned.  I was gratified during my meetings to hear leaders from all sides make this commitment to me explicitly. All communities and their leaders in northern Kosovo must remain committed to civilised conduct and to pursue their objectives in a peaceful and democratic manner,” UNMIK chief is quoted as saying further. Battle for 20 percent of Serb votes in the north (Tribuna) A dual election campaign is underway in the north of Kosovo with first focused on securing turnout of at least 15-20 percent of Serbs in elections and the second, on convincing Serbs in the north not to vote. Stakeholders in this campaign include both Serb parallel structures with their anti-election views and political parties that are based in Belgrade but that are running in Kosovo’s local elections. EU requested to have a reserve plan for the unexpected on 3 November (Koha Ditore) Lack of EU’s reserve plan regarding the surprises that could bring 3 November in the north of Kosovo, is assessed by the report “Local elections in the north of Kosovo: towards a new balance,” could that encourage further Serbs’ objections on the local elections. The report, written by University professor from Belgrade, Philip Ejdus, Director of the Institute “Democracy in development,” Leon Malazogu and member of the Institute for Central European Policies, Milan Nic, says that the EU and wide international community does not appear to be prepared for the possibility of failure of the elections in northern Kosovo nor for the unpredictable consequences after them. Musliu: Dacic threatened me (Epoka e Re) Former UÇPMB leader, Jonuz Musliu, who was part of a delegation from Presevo Valley that met with Serbia’s Prime Minister Ivica Dacic in Belgrade, said that the letter is not interested to resolve problems of the Albanians in the Valley. Musliu told this daily that after he insisted to resolve the status of Albanians in the Valley, “Dacic lost control and passed to Milosevic’s phase. He told me that he has the power, and I said that even though I happen to be at Serbia’s Government and in Belgrade, you can arrest but not frighten me,” He added that meetings with Dacic without the presence and monitoring of the internationals cannot succeed. Opposition against Dacic’s visit (Epoka e Re) The announced visit of the Prime Minister of Serbia, was objected by the biggest opposition parties, the Democratic League of Kosovo and Vetëvendosje Movement. Representatives of both these parties considered Dacic’s visit to be of political character, and that it violates sovereignty of the state of Kosovo. Head of the LDK parliamentary group, Ismet Beqiri, said that these visits of Serbian officials violated sovereignty of the Republic of Kosovo.